Perpetual Auto Grow, Follow Me To The End

Hey everyone. I am doing an Auto grow from start to finish. I will walk you through my setup and weekly updates. I have a 3 chamber grow setup. No smell

2x2 tent on top for drying with a fan to move dank smells. 2x4 bottom tent for vegging. 15sqft closet for flowering.

Roots organic dry nutrients
Roots organic original soil
5 gallon fabric pots (solo cups for veg)
Flower lights 315cmh, two 135 watt led
Veg lights 50 watt fluores, two 53 watt led

Our contenders!

Lemon auto, Uk Cheese auto, Sour D Haze auto. They sprouted 4 days ago.

watching

It sounds like you have an interesting setup.

How have you determined when to begin vegging new plants? Is it just a matter of letting a previous plant progress to "X" days from seed before germinating a new plant, and then vegging until harvest makes room in the flower tent? I imagine you have enough veg room so that there is a bit of leeway should a plant finish later than expected.

You have the right idea. I will usually wait till the plants are around 2 months in the flower room. I can veg for around a week and a half in solo cups and then transfer to 5 gallon pots. I do this to control temperatures and also to optimize lighting under my 50 watt fluro/LEDs. I usually will stretch the time in veg tent if needed to allow the flowering plants to finish. As we all know, different strains finish at different times. Sometimes I move the vegging plants to the flowering chamber. The flowering plants that are finished will get rotated into the dry chamber.

Basically, I can turn a harvest every 2 months and have everything dried/cured in two weeks. The only downfall is electricity costs. I'm growing 18 hours on and burning about $70 a month. But hey cant complain about getting 9 to 12 ounces every cycle.

A Viking said:

It sounds like you have an interesting setup.

How have you determined when to begin vegging new plants? Is it just a matter of letting a previous plant progress to "X" days from seed before germinating a new plant, and then vegging until harvest makes room in the flower tent? I imagine you have enough veg room so that there is a bit of leeway should a plant finish later than expected.

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First week update as promised. Northern lights is about week away from harvest im guessing. The 3 little guys are getting transplanted to 5 gallon fabric pots tommorow.

Week 3, plants are in the flower room in 5 gallon fabric pots. I just moved them today from my 135 watt led to under my 315 cmh. My northern lights will be done in a 2 or 3 days.

Changed out one of my cheap ebay 300 watt LEDs to a Vivosun. Much more effecient with my 315 Cmh. One led more to go to replace. I have a total of 620 watts in my flower room. 2 135 watt LEDs and a 315cmh. Hoping for better results!

Day 25. Well I guess, my plants are much smaller this time. I contribute it to transplanting out of the solo cups. The roots spread out to fast, I transplanted at day 12. Really slowed it down alot. As soon as I transplant it really boosted growth.

Why are you transplanting autos anyway? Just plant them in final pot from the start

evergreengardener said:

Why are you transplanting autos anyway? Just plant them in final pot from the start

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It's a long story, the short answer is temperature of my veg chamber. I keep my house at 60 degrees. My veg chamber doesnt warm up with lights on much. In solo cups I was able to keep the lights closer and keep temps around 77. With pots it was always 65, the seeds wouldnt sprout. I had to use my 130 watt led and it's quite a distance away. That being said in the winter I use solo cups. In the summer I plant straight in the 5 gallon pot and pull the lights away. Seeds germinate in 3 days. I am already spending about $65 a month in electricity. I didnt really want to install a space heater.

In theory, I could use my flower room. Although, that destroys the point of doing a perpetual grow. Having multiple chambers for different stages is key.

Stockthemperor said:

It's a long story, the short answer is temperature of my veg chamber. I keep my house at 60 degrees. My veg chamber doesnt warm up with lights on much. In solo cups I was able to keep the lights closer and keep temps around 77. With pots it was always 65, the seeds wouldnt sprout. I had to use my 130 watt led and it's quite a distance away. That being said in the winter I use solo cups. In the summer I plant straight in the 5 gallon pot and pull the lights away. Seeds germinate in 3 days. I am already spending about $65 a month in electricity. I didnt really want to install a space heater.

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I get that. you should just put seedling heat mats right under your pots it’ll keep your soil and roots warm while only pulling at most another 100w so it keeps cost way down compared to a space heater pulling 1500w

Also your veg room is 2x4 and they make a seedling mat that is 20in x 48in

I have seen that mat before. I believe hydrofarm makes it. I definitely am thinking about getting one. I just started using my 2x4 for a perpetual tent. I couldn't find a beam, just came across it after moving. Instead of buying a new led, should invest in that mat.

Just dropping in to second what EGG said.
I've been doinga perpetual auto grow for a few years, and always start with a 3 gallon soft pot.
I've tried other things, but they were not good producers.
That could have been the genetics though.

I've seen many experienced growers demonstrate up potting autos.
They tend to use the same strains, and are very good at timing it.
I like variety, and some autos a very slow starters while others take off like weeds.

I've seen others argue that once the root tip hits the bottom, it will start to flower.
That is all hearsay, so take it as you will.

Hope it gives you something to think on.
Vivosun makes the best 3g soft pots imo.
They always send freebies too. I noticed you have one of their leds.
I've been using square drip trays under them that look like legos.
They are elevated so air can flow under the pans.
Helps keep the floor of my tent dry.

Having separate spaces helps, like you do.
Seedlings under t4's and leds boosting the veg.
The blurple may not be the best for flowering.
If you have a soldering iron and some patients. (Shipping from china takes a while)
You can replace some of the blue chips with better ones.
If are getting another light down the road that is something to keep in mind.
I alternate mine during the life cycle.
A 300w modded viparspectra and a 600w of the same brand.
The 600w has veg/flower modes, so I flip or full blast as needed.
The 300w I removed 10 of the blue chips and replaced them with nice 660nm ones.
They are helping a lot for flowering.

Anyways. Have a good grow.

Looking good, following along!

Stockthemperor said:

I have seen that mat before. I believe hydrofarm makes it. I definitely am thinking about getting one. I just started using my 2x4 for a perpetual tent. I couldn't find a beam, just came across it after moving. Instead of buying a new led, should invest in that mat.

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The mats are only like 28 dollars maybe cheaper now

I've got a question op, if it's a perpetual grow, how can we follow you to the end of it?


Agree with the heating mat idea, have used them in a similar way many times